G'day All,-----
Sorry for putting this in here but I thought it was the most likely place for most people to see it, and it seems that some may still not be reading the "sticky notes" posted at the top of the major forums.-----

If you are waiting to have you membership at Zone Five activated or if you have found your account has been banned accidentally;-----

We have a problem with large numbers of spammers trying to access the site using bogus registrations, and we are taking measures to try and ensure that only valid members are allowed access.-----

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Without this information, there is a VERY good chance your account will not be approved.

This kit has been on the shelf of doom for years. I had bought this along with an Aires cockpit and a resin wheel well (not sure of the maker). When I started, I cut out the existing wheel well and started sanding down the wheel well until it was see through in many places. I also sanded down the wing where it was to go until it was paper thin. And it wouldn't fit - you couldn't close the wings around the well. And now the wings were ruined.

And so it sat for at least 3 years, maybe 4 until I saw a resin drop-in wing replacement from Obscureco that allowed you to drop the flaps. It was about $15 bucks shipped on eBay and so I bought it. I know I could have bought the kit new for $15 shipped on eBay, but at this point it was the principle of the thing...

And so here it is. My first serious attempt at a bare metal finish (using Alclad II of various persuasions). It has its flaws - I should have spent more time on the join between the flaps and the wing for example - but I'm really pretty happy with it. I haven't weathered it up yet and I'm not sure I'm going to - it looks nice in its shiny state. Most importantly, it's done and off the shelf. Now there's room for something else there.

I like it! I'm a fan of Obscureco, having used their F-8 Crusader wing and getting started on their A-3 Skywarrior cockpit. Can you tell us more about how you went about achieving the NMF? What Alclad colors did you use? Did you prime in grey or black?

I primed with gray Tamiya rattle can primer as I didn't want a mirror finish. I sanded any roughness out of the surface and then looked with my optivisor for additional areas that weren't super smooth. Sanding use up to 12,000 grit for a nice polish. I used dull aluminum on the wings, dark aluminum on the wing gun panels and white aluminum on the body. In a couple places (I masked off some panels) on the body I overcoated the white aluminum with polished aluminum to vary the reflectivity. I had to go back several times to sand and respray any areas that had a little roughness.

I learned a lot and am looking forward to the next bmf model I do. I learned a lot about finishing in general that I'm applying to the x-47b I'm working on now with good results.